A Commentary and Reflection on the Readings for the 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B. The Liturgical Sense of the Scriptures Podcast, by Catholic Author and Theologian David L. Gray. READINGS: Genesis 3:9-15, 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1, Mark 3:20-35.
Guided by the Liturgy of the Catholic Mass, the Thankful & Humble Heart Drives Out Pride
In today’s First Reading from Genesis 3:9-15 for the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B, Adam was confronted by God, who inquired about his whereabouts. To which Adam confessed to hiding out of fear and shame for his nakedness. God, realizing Adam had eaten from the forbidden tree, questioned him further, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” Hearing God holding him accountable, Adam immediately shifted the blame to the woman, Eve, who had shared the fruit with him: “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” When God turned to Eve for answers, she blamed the serpent for deceiving her into eating the fruit. The curious thing about pride is that it never takes accountability for its actions when they are scrutinized by a higher authority. Indeed, their distrust for God was at the heart of Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden. They did not trust that God knew better for them than they knew for themselves. This human condition, which we have categorized as the capital sin of pride, is entirely incompatible with the divine nature.
In contrast, the nature of the anti-Christ and the world is friendly and welcoming to pride and disobedience to the moral law. The world cannot get enough of celebrating prideful behavior and crafting laws contrary to divine revelation. It has come to the point that if you believe what the Catholic Church teaches and object to the rise of societal standards that Satan himself has crafted, people will think you are strange, old-fashioned, and even a threat to their systems of psychosis. How the world reacts to people who tell the truth and live according to it has not changed. In today’s Gospel Reading from Mark 3:20-35, Jesus’ family said, “He is out of his mind.” The scribes said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul” for simply having the audacity to do all He was called to do. Whether it was his family or the religious establishment, they did not trust Jesus. For several self-interested reasons, they did not trust that He was who He claimed to be, did not trust the work He was doing, and did not trust that he was working in their best interest. Even his family, who may have honestly believed He was overworking Himself and/or putting Himself in harm’s way, are operating from the vantage point that they knew better for Him than He knew for Himself. We indeed trust ourselves and our intentions more than we trust God.
Conventional wisdom would argue that the antonym or the opposite of being prideful is being humble because, in Christian humility, we reduce our sense of worth and significance in the light of whose image we were made. John the Waymaker spoke of humility in the light of Christ Jesus: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”[1] Christian humility is indeed contrary to acting prideful, where we over-imagine our importance and value in the world and put ourselves in competition with God by aligning ourselves with those who wish He would just die so that we can be free.
Here, conventional wisdom is correct in asserting that humility is the opposite of pride because humility is a virtue and a fruit of the Holy Spirit’s gift of ‘Fear of the Lord,’ where our predisposition to God is in reverential awe and wonder of Him. So, humility is the opposite of prideful behavior, but what is the chief act of one who is humble? According to today’s Second Reading from 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1, the humble are thankful to God; the humble offer thanksgiving to God in humble acknowledgment that they are nothing without Him. Yes, offering thanksgiving to God is the chief work of humility. For, when we thank God for what He has done for us and what we could not do for ourselves, we bless His infinite magnanimity and goodwill for us.
Drawing from the words of Psalms 116:10, “I kept the faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted!” the Apostle Paul rewords to say, “I believe, therefore I spoke,” as a segue to write about thankfulness we should all have towards the infinite magnanimity and goodwill of God. Saint Paul writes, “Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God. Therefore, we are not discouraged.” This is the testimony of the Christian faith! Thankfulness overflows because we believe that no matter what suffering we are experiencing in this present time, the same God who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us to be with Him. That is what humility believes and ministers when humility is a lived experience.
Humility, which shows itself in our gratitude to God, is rooted in the Catholic Mass as a way of living and worshipping. The Divine Symphony of the Holy Mass constantly reminds us of God’s desire for our life by inviting us to process through the divine and sacred space with a sense of reverence and awe. When we participate in the liturgy of the Mass, we become part of the everlasting story that transcends our own lives. A story so immense that even our most magnificent cathedrals can hardly hint at it. Through our participation in the liturgy of the Mass, we become part of the everlasting story that tells of sacrifice, redemption, and God’s infinite love. A divine love so infinite that our expanding universe is only a faint shadow of it.
The Eucharistic celebration, in particular, embodies the ultimate act of thanksgiving, where we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, humbly acknowledging our dependence on God for all things. Through the rhythms of standing, kneeling, processing, sitting, and singing, we are physically and spiritually molded into a posture of gratitude, recognizing that every breath and blessing flows from the generosity of our the Holy Trinity. The Mass, therefore, is not just a repetitive ritual; it is an education in thankfulness, a school of humility that shapes our very being, inspiring us to like Christ Jesus, who was the real presence of humble thankfulness.
This is just one way how the readings at Mass this Sunday connect to the liturgy and how the liturgy is forming us how to live our lives in the world. Be in the world what you have received through the liturgy.
[1] John 3:30.
